We have cruised with Uniworld twice and it's wonderful being all inclusive. We came off the ship with a bill of $168.00 for our optional excursion ..... ..We tipped our housekeeper extra at the end of our two week cruise she was exceptional..Also every evening before dinner we had a cocktail before dinner in the lounge. The waiter knew our drink and was always so cordial to us. We also tipped him.. The crew all worked very hard..

Originally posted by Carnevale
I agree and really appreciate the ocean cruise lines that add a set amount every day to our account. We will be on our 1st river cruise soon and we are not looking forward to talks about tips....that will be a real turnoff for us. Our booking on Viking gave us included gratuities so it may feel odd not to be handing out envelopes if indeed that is how it is done on Viking. I am assuming what we have covers the CD’s tip but am not certain. Does anyone know?

We sailed on on Danube Waltz earlier this year and had pre paid gratuities. prior to departure, I called Viking and they said the the pre-paid gratuities cover ALL onboard staff including the cruise director, valued at about $300 overall. Any other tipping would just totally be discretionary.

In my personal opinion there are two types of variables on any cruise: the things you can fix by paying more money [e.g. gratuities] and the things that you can't fix once on board [e.g. quality of food and wine]. I would rather sail on a line that has the fixed things right, and pay extra for the fixable things.

Originally posted by Host Jazzbeau
In my personal opinion there are two types of variables on any cruise: the things you can fix by paying more money [e.g. gratuities] and the things that you can't fix once on board [e.g. quality of food and wine]. I would rather sail on a line that has the fixed things right, and pay extra for the fixable things.

I quizzed our Viking cruise director about the tips, because it was my first river cruise. He explained the independent contractor aspect, and that he alone got the tips from that particular envelope. The rest of the crew, including the captain, shared in the tips from the other envelope. I wish I had asked him if the other 51 (I think that was the number) share EQUALLY. So, I don't know how they divvy it up.

When we checked out, I asked what the "recommended amount" worked out to, and they told me 168 euros (12 * 2 * 7) so I said put us down for 200. Then we put money in separate envelopes and handed them personally to the young man who took care of our cabin, the maitre d, who really looked after our special dietary interests, and a small amount to the piano player. My wife and I actually like to tip to show our appreciation for excellent service. I guess it's an American thing. My wife tends to be more generous than me. At the end of the day I can say that we are fortunate enough so that an extra $200 or so won't make a difference to us.

I agree. I have taken 4 Viking cruises and tipped the recommended amount and nothing more.
However, I always questioned (to myself) why we are asked to tip when sailing thru out Europe. After all, tipping is not necessary (meaning the locals don't) in a typical European restaurant. No tipping for cab drivers or even housekeeping in a hotel.

Originally posted by MikeyB
I agree. I have taken 4 Viking cruises and tipped the recommended amount and nothing more.
However, I always questioned (to myself) why we are asked to tip when sailing thru out Europe. After all, tipping is not necessary (meaning the locals don't) in a typical European restaurant. No tipping for cab drivers or even housekeeping in a hotel.

Sadly, I believe it's because Viking wages are low and the crew, mostly people behind the scenes that we do not see, rely on the tip money to help feed their families.

I would prefer that Viking INCREASE the fare to cover the tip money. But I have found Viking corporate to be intransigent.
I love Viking shipboard personnel.

My problem is not on the cruise itself, it is all the people with their hands out on excursions. I wish the lines would pay and tip them, and just up our cost a bit. (Just on my way back from Vietnam and Cambodia on Ama; so these issues aren't unique to Viking.)

We just returned from a Viking cruise on the Douro. We were given two envelopes for tipping during the cruise portion. One envelope was for the 3 Tour/Program Directors to share equally, and the other was for the ship staff, which Viking recommends should get a higher amount per day, per person. In addition, we tipped the bus drivers and local guides as needed. On this particular trip, the Tour/Program Directors get much less (Viking recommends 2 Euros per day, per person) since they really don't do much for the individual traveler unless you have a problem. It's the ship staff that works the hardest.

Originally posted by gnome12
My problem is not on the cruise itself, it is all the people with their hands out on excursions. I wish the lines would pay and tip them, and just up our cost a bit. (Just on my way back from Vietnam and Cambodia on Ama; so these issues aren't unique to Viking.)

Actually, on both of our recent Viking cruises (China & Vietnam/Cambodia) and also on our Egypt cruise with Movenpick, our main guide handled all incidental tipping for us.

We never had to worry about finding small bills or deciding who to tip, we just gave the guide a small sum of money at the start and they handled the rest, along with a very open process of delivering the tips and a full accounting to the group of how it had all been spent at the end.

It made even Egypt essentially a zero tipping zone from our perspective.

Originally posted by MikeyB
Twototravel-
Is it true that on the Douro cruise that tipping to cruise staff must be made in cash and cannot be charged? If so, did they explain why? Thanks

Yes, tips must be given in cash. Recommended Euros, but I'm sure dollars would be okay too. The only thing you can pay with a credit card is your ship spending....drinks, souvenirs from their on board shop,etc. The WiFi is iffy even when docked, so they warn passengers to be flexible paying...if the WiFi is down when you go to pay off your account on the last full day, you will need to pay it in cash. WiFi was terrible going thru the locks and around high mountains along the river. Other times it was just slow due to so many people using their devices at once.

Grand Circle program directors do the tipping for local guides and drivers as well as the porters in hotels. Tips are cash only, one envelope for ship's crew, one for the program director. The amounts suggested by GCT in their documents are listed in usd; the bulk of our tips are in usd with non-Euro local currency include if we have any remaining.

Originally posted by Ritabob
[
Yes, tips must be given in cash. Recommended Euros, but I'm sure dollars would be okay too.

Just wondering why would you think dollars would be okay, too? The crew would have to go to a bank to and get dinged on the exchange rate .
RB[/quote]

Excellent point. Passengers too busy to be inconvenienced to get Euros before or during a cruise but do not mind making hard working crew take time to go to a bank and spend their valuable time off exchanging dollars for Euros. Of course everyone claims that they tip more in $ so as to cover the exchange. It's the inconvenience. Folks unwilling to be inconvenienced who don't mind inconveniencing someone with limited time off.

Try handing Canadian dollars to someone in the US in a Canadian border state.